Misty's Happily Ever After
By Mary-Jo Dionne

TO SAY THE WORLD IS BURSTING AT THE proverbial seams with unloved dogs in need of a happy ending is something of an understatement. With overcrowded shelters and rescue organizations housing the population's castaways ("We're moving." "She chewed my shoes," "He grew too big."), it is a sick irony that the puppy mill industry continues to thrive. The Humane Society of the United States postulates that half of the country's estimated 3.5 million shelter dogs are euthanized every year because they are unable to find homes. So while consumer demand remains high, there is an obvious disconnect when it comes to accessing the appropriate supply.
It is for this reason we are choosing to celebrate one of those castaways — one of the unwanted, the unloved, the forgotten — in this "happily ever after" story.

Sad beginnings, happy endings. Life for a puppy is supposed to include plenty of frolicking, stick chasing, and hugs. However, the first five months of Misty's life included nothing of the sort.

Beaten regularly with a 2 x 4, hers were long, hungry days of neglect and insufferable abuse. Thanks to the courage of a local woman who became aware of this sad situation, Misty was seized and brought to a vet where x-rays revealed two breaks in her leg, as well as several BB gun pellets lodged in her leg; evidence of days spent as a stand-in target.

At this point, the Animal Advocates Society (AAS), an organization that specializes in happy endings, stepped in. A Vancouver-based, not-for-profit, no-kill rescue group, AAS ensures 100 percent of every dollar donated goes toward assisting animals like Misty. As a result, Misty not only got the medical attention she required, she got the family she desperately needed.

Misty's story was published on AnimalAdvocates.com and one of the people who read it was Cathy Peacosh, who felt an immediate connection. "1 knew she needed us," she explains. "And that we needed her."

Peacosh adopted Misty and helped her to heal, both physically and mentally. Like the fairytales we devoured as children, rags to riches fables of the canine variety possess their own brand of life lessons etched between the lines. And if you're not convinced, just look at Misty. Seemingly oblivious to the horror she once endured, two years later, the scared, lame puppy has transformed into a strong, loving girl. Not from the wave of a wand, but from the informed adoption by a family who knew Misty deserved better.

'When she runs on the dykes, she can just go forever," says Peacosh. "The spirit and sense of freedom she possesses,... There is just a light about her. She is a survivor." If that's not the essence of happily ever after, what is?

Until the day a good home is found for the world's last neglected animal, as thinking people, we have a responsibility to consider resale as a viable option when looking to add a canine kid to the household. And with resources like PetFinder. com — an online directory that lists a quarter of a million dogs waiting in North American shelters and foster homes — the reasons for not adopting a rescue are dwindling.

Mary-Jo Dionne is a Vancouver-based writer and the mother of two happily-ever-after rescues, Cowboy and Nelly.

To learn more about AAS, please visit AnimalAdvocates.com. To find a dog like Misty at a shelter near you, visit Pet Finder.com. Modern Dog would like to hear about more stories like Misty's. To see your favourite "Happily Ever After" published in a future issue, please send information and photos to: happyendings@moderndogmagazine.com